Three weeks is not much time to spend in America, but it was a great three weeks. Being with family, the wonderful food, picking apples with Dad, and visiting Lake Michigan made the jet lag and nightmare flights worth the effort. But after all the excitement, there is just nothing quite like coming back home to Thailand. Baby arms wrapped tightly around my neck, laughing, jumping little girls, and the more dignified exuberance of Meme, not to mention Roy and the boys… it makes all the discomfort  well worth the sacrifice.

Rainy season is over for this year, and it is hot again. But, without constant rains to hinder us, we are making progress on multiple fronts. We now have a pathway completed around the mountain to where we plan to build our children’s home. I had not even seen the spot where we plan to put the house before, but now that I have a path, it is suddenly accessible, so I have been over to inspect it thoroughly and it is quite to my liking! Pathways are great inventions. Today I glanced up to see Destiny headed down the new path all by herself…going to have to watch her more carefully now!

Jason is also making progress on providing bibles to those who need them. He has delivered 60 so far, and there is still a great stack in my living room. It is amazing how few people have bibles here. The villagers are so excited to receive a bible of their own. Jason is also using colored pencils and marking as many bibles as he can with basic bible studies. If we could just cram more hours into the day, we might get everything done that needs doing.

We have the first post for the school building firmly planted in the ground! I am sad to say that is as far as we have gotten so far, but God’s plans are much better than ours. Slowly but surely we are seeing the relationships growing with the local leaders thus providing a more stable environment for the gospel to be spread. Building the needed infrastructure for a school takes a lot of time and planning…especially when we are the only ones doing it, while taking care the ever present needs of our children.

It is also fun to see the incredible changes taking place in our little ones. Having a peaceful atmosphere, with plenty of good things to do has been the balm that is helping to heal their damaged little hearts. I am always amazed at the simplicity of God’s ways, and I am so thankful for how He led us to the right place for our children.